Sir Anthony and Bertie were both quiet for a long time. Anthony was suddenly feeling very sad, remembering how devastated Edith had looked behind that veil, dressed in her wonderful white gown.
He had known at the time that he was breaking her heart, but he had still decided that he had to leave her. He couldn't bear the thought of becoming a burden to her.
Anthony had thought less and less about Edith as time went by, and the memories of her had had faded, but now he was thrown back through the years to that awful day again. He could see her sad face just at clearly as he could on the day it happened. It was like the presence of this miserable young Marquess brought him closer to Edith in a strange, almost magical way.
He took a sip of his whiskey, then he sighed again. Of course it was only the young man's words about throwing his girl away that had made him think about Edith.
It was nothing stranger than that. Of course not.
...
The friendly old man across the table had said that he could relate to what Bertie had told him about throwing his girl away even though he made her sad.
Bertie was too drunk to remember to be polite. Otherwise he would most certainly have asked what the man meant by his words.
Was this man perhaps in the habit of breaking women's hearts? Time and time again ever since he was a young man? Or was he thinking about one particular time, one particular woman?
Bertie just didn't care. It was enough for his muddled brain to worry about his own misfortunes.
"I love her so much", he sniffled. "I can't live without her."
"Now, Lord Hexham, why did you leave your girl if you love her so much?" Sir Anthony asked sympathetically. "And if you feel so bad about leaving her?"
Sir Anthony wondered if he had any right to ask a question like that, considering what he himself had done less than five years earlier.
"Well, it's comp...li...ca...ted..." Bertie said, trying to articulate the word. He felt his head was much too muddled to speak, he needed to sober up a bit. He tried to take a sip of his coffee without spilling it out, but he had to give that up for the time being. It was still too hot and his hand was too shaky.
"Be...sides...she is not my girl... not any more..." That thought seemed too much for the young man to bear, so he started sobbing again.
After that they were both silent again for a while, each of them thinking about how badly he had treated Edith.
...
Bertie wanted to tell all of it to this friendly old man. He wondered briefly if he really could tell Edith's story - wouldn't that be a betrayal? The thought of it was going round and round in his brain, making him feel all dizzy.
Then he decided that he could do it anyhow - this man was a total stranger. He didn't know Bertie, he didn't know Edith. There wasn't much risk involved. Especially if Bertie never mentioned her name.
"They live in this big house...", Bertie started. "Her father is an Ea... - well..." He stopped himself before he uttered the whole word. There weren't all that many Earls in England after all.
"I see", Sir Anthony said, although he didn't understand very much of this. Except that Bertie had most likely abandoned an Earl's daughter, which sounded a bit too familiar to be comfortable.
"And - well - the little girl...she didn't tell me..."
"Ah", Sir Anthony said, not really sure what Lord Hexham was talking about. But he could as well let the man ramble on, he seemed a little less drunk now, and though his talk wasn't entirely coherent it was at least clear enough to listen to.
"And that's the big problem!" Bertie added, as if that explained it all.
...
Bertie was quiet for a while again, concentrating on his coffee and finally managing to take a sip from it.
The coffee seemed to have a sobering effect on him. Suddenly his brain seemed crystal clear. He wondered why he was telling all this to a perfect stranger. Edith had been right in not trusting him, it seemed.
The utter clearness only lasted for a few moments, but it was enough to get Bertie starting on a very different part of Edith's story.
...
This time Bertie's story was much more coherent and much more painful for Sir Anthony to listen to.
"She was hurt before", Bertie said. "That makes it worse..."
Anthony just listened with a supportive smile. He wasn't really interested in hearing about all Lord Hexham's problems, but he was too kind to interrupt. Perhaps the man would feel better when he had told his story, Anthony thought.
"She was so hurt...she was left... at her wedding...in front of... the altar..."
Sir Anthony was shocked to hear this. He didn't want to listen to anything more now. He regretted that he hadn't just gulped down his whiskey and then bid the Marquess good-night a long time ago.
"Can you imagine anyone leaving a girl at the altar, dressed in her white gown and in front of all her friends and family?" Bertie said, suddenly able to utter a whole long sentence. Perhaps it was the thought of some one treating Edith like that which made his tongue easier to command.
Anthony looked at Bertie. It was obvious that Lord Hexham wanted an answer from him now.
"It sounds rather cruel", Sir Anthony stuttered with an embarrassed smile.
"Cruel, yes, you can say that again", Bertie said, shaking his head.
Anthony didn't say it again. In fact he couldn't utter a single word more, he was feeling too queasy. This was horrible. He had wanted to be kind and supportive to this sad and friendly man, and now he had all this thrown back at him.
The only comforting thought was that Lord Hexham was of course talking about an entirely different woman. And that he had no idea whatsoever what Anthony had done.
"So cruel", Bertie repeated. "But who am I to say anything about it? I threw her away...I was just as cruel. Not all that much of a difference..."
Anthony swallowed hard. Then - at last - he managed to get some words out.
"I'm sure it has been impossible for her to forgive that man", he said with a voice that he had difficulties to keep steady.
AN: Thank you for reading! And thank you so much for all the lovely reviews to last chapter! Please keep telling me what you think!
